Welcome to our new Board Chair – Dr Rob Grenfell
On Friday last week, Dr Rob Grenfell was elected as our new Board Chair, with Jan Milliken remaining Deputy Chair. For those who are not familiar with Rob, he has a long relationship with western Victoria, having grown up in Horsham and then operated a general practice in Natimuk for 13 years. Since his time as Natimuk’s GP, he’s gone on to a variety of roles in public health, having worked at the CSIRO as the Director of Health and Biosecurity (during a global pandemic!), held a role as National Director of Cardiovascular Health at the Heart Foundation and worked as a Senior Medical Advisor for the Victorian Department of Health. He is currently Chief Operating Officer of Strategy and Regions for Grampians Health. Rob brings a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge of public health and primary care to WVPHN, so we feel very privileged that he can take such an important role in shaping the future direction of our organisation.
Australian Association for Adolescent Health Award
Finally, I’d like to congratulate WVPHN’s Dr Bianca Forrester for her recent Outstanding Contribution to Youth Health award from the Australian Assocation for Adolescent Health. The award is for Bianca’s work over the past seven years to establish the Doctors in Secondary Schools (DiSS) program, and she is described in the award citation as, “a highly expert and effective clinical academic who designs engaging and effective education on topics in young people’s health and other areas.” We’re very proud of Bianca and her work and delighted that she has been recognised for her work with DiSS, which is one of our key programs for youth health. You can read more about Bianca’s award here, and about DiSS here.
Craig Wilding, WVPHN CEO
27 November 2024